Hasbr-uh-oh - Business and Tariffs Discussion

[Platypus Prime]

I've heard Antarctica has very few investments in it so far, I imagine the local economy would appreciate a wealthy toy company offering to move operations in for pennies on the dollar. The only hangup is that penguins lack of hands makes the assembly a bit tricky.

Seriously, though, there eventually comes a point where 'move to WHERE?' is an issue, if you're always reliant on finding a place where you can get semi-skilled labor for cheap because their economy is behind yours, eventually that's diminishing returns.

 

[LordGigaIce]

I've heard Antarctica has very few investments in it so far, I imagine the local economy would appreciate a wealthy toy company offering to move operations in for pennies on the dollar. The only hangup is that penguins lack of hands makes the assembly a bit tricky.

Seriously, though, there eventually comes a point where 'move to WHERE?' is an issue, if you're always reliant on finding a place where you can get semi-skilled labor for cheap because their economy is behind yours, eventually that's diminishing returns.

Trump still has it in his mind that the world works like it did in the 1920s-1960s where you can just bring manufacturing jobs back because "tariffs." That was his whole thing with iPhones.
"Why can't we just make them here?"
He has the mentality that because car factories got turned into tank and plane factories in WWII that it should be easy to convert factories in the US into iPhone factories. He doesn't understand that iPhones (and most consumer-grade electronics these days) require highly specific industrial processes to make. And if Apple started building that infrastructure in the US now, it would take 20 years before it was even at the level where we could think about moving those jobs to the US.

All of this is to say that the Administration's primary aim seems to be to move jobs back to the US. ofc the GOP 1%er class would love it if they could pay Americans near-slavery level wages, but unfortunately for them most Americans aren't going to go for that, even their most diehard MAGAheads.
So the alternative is to just raise tariffs on American goods being produced abroad to the point even with their cheaper labour, the price about evens out compared to what they'd be if they were produced in the US with minimum wage and other pro-worker laws on the books.

But as I said, industrial processes are highly specialized these days, so even if Hasbro or Apple or whoever just wanted to cave and move production back to the US, they just can't because the infrastructure hasn't been built here and can't be built in a timeframe Trump and co would want.

There's also the minor issue that if the end goal is to just make everything made abroad as expensive as it would be to produce in America and therefore companies should just migrate jobs back over anyway... well... even in a fantasy scenario where that was possible, the end result would be ballooning cost of living prices because now EVERYTHING is more expensive.

 

[lastmaximal]

Even that's still being too generous about motives. That seems more likely to be what supporters think (the spin is certainly anchored on it), but the actual motive may be somewhere between just dumb flexing and posturing, and market manipulation (he's made public announcements at least once that "now is a good time to buy" just before rescinding/delaying tarriffs, and in this latest instance at least one person started an account just before the announcement and made millions).

 

[LordGigaIce]

Even that's still being too generous about motives. That seems more likely to be what supporters think (the spin is certainly anchored on it), but the actual motive may be somewhere between just dumb flexing and posturing, and market manipulation (he's made public announcements at least once that "now is a good time to buy" just before rescinding/delaying tarriffs, and in this latest instance at least one person started an account just before the announcement and made millions).

It would not shock me at all if his "Trump Always Chickens Out" stuff was just him manipulating the markets so his buddies can make a quick buck.

 

[LBD "Nytetrayn"]

I've heard Antarctica has very few investments in it so far, I imagine the local economy would appreciate a wealthy toy company offering to move operations in for pennies on the dollar. The only hangup is that penguins lack of hands makes the assembly a bit tricky.

 

[Platypus Prime]

Looks like the price increases have started, on existing stock as well as preorders. Weird. But I saw some of that at BBTS before, now it's hit Pulse too.

Edit: And while almost everyone has said this at one time or another, I really may be out. If WalMart of all places has deluxes about 30, Voyagers about 44, and Onslaught supposedly a hundred later, even with the Vortex I have now not counting, completing Bruticus would be post-taxes about 218. You may see a couple bucks difference here or there, but it may simply be that while Vortex is a sunk cost, it doesn't mean I can spend that sort of money right now on the rest. And this isn't a case of 'inflation' or the like, I just don't have the means right now. I may get lucky in a sale, but I doubt it. Combiners rarely ever hang around long.

 

[LBD "Nytetrayn"]

Existing stock?

Well, if there was ever any question that greed is at play here...

Though I'm sure someone will say something like "Well, the new stuff uses the same codes as the old, so in order to raise the new, they have to raise the old, too."

 

[lastmaximal]

I don't know how that works, specifically, but this is also why one really shouldn't even give them an excuse. Pricing problems happened for more believable reasons as the pandemic caused its initial (and, to be fair, lasting) waves of disruption, but they never really left because gouging doesn't politely back away once people have been shown to be (even begrudgingly) willing to pay.

 

[Platypus Prime]

Its not internet rumor or hypothetical, I've seen this myself. When I got my Vortex from Pulse it was $24.99, $26.74 after taxes. It's now $27.99 on Pulse. I was at Wal-Mart and they'd gone to $29.99. Not huge for it, more in steps, but a definite in-store in-stock increase. Voyagers went from $34.99 for my Sky Byte to $42.99 on Pulse and at Wal-Mart were $44.99. Ten bucks more. I'm in the USA for reference on both stores on which dollar value if that helps, I know it does vary. But both are definitely bumping prices on in-store stuff. Quite a bit in some cases. Order histories are a terrible thing to go back and review when you realize something is off...

 

[The Mighty Mollusk]

Existing stock?

Well, if there was ever any question that greed is at play here...

Everything corporations do is centered around money. Costs for everything have been rising for years, even without the pandemic or Trump's idiocy (although he's certainly not helping anyone). Of course it's about greed.

 

[LordGigaIce]

My hubby and I collect a few lines across multiple companies.
Everyone has been raising prices, and that's to be expected. I can't even blame them for that, because this tariff stuff is out of their hands.

Still, seeing this across multiple companies, it does seem like Hasbro is being the most egregious in using this situation to make a buck.
I'm sure it's happening with multiple companies but Hasbro's the one where it just seems the most obvious.

 

[Platypus Prime]

I know it's not just Hasbro. They aren't even the worst offender, some Moderoid kits I was looking at jumped THIRTY DOLLARS in some cases. The lowest jump was still ten to fifteen.

The problem for me is, I'm not doing badly at all compared to many. But regardless of company/product line, I can't do this, I can't say 'well, just this once'. I simply with existing expenses of more important things, don't have the means to compensate for adding another half a bot or more of costs to what was already too much. I'd already cut down my spending a lot, I recently had someone on this board suggest a great comic idea and I had to admit I couldn't do it, because I no longer had the bots they wanted to see. I sold the TFSS stuff during the medical mess, and a lot more besides. I hadn't gotten any new versions of those characters in the aftermath, either. And this makes the situation that was already a nonstarter a total stop. I understand that they probably did this to offset incoming costs, rather than making the new waves even MORE expensive all at once. But it does cut people like me who can't make toy robots a priority into spectators. We're not buying, not like this. We can't. And I've been getting Transformers since the year they were first put out. I'll remain interested, I will enjoy the pics and such by people who were able to swing it. But my own will not be diversifying in the near future. Looks like Omega Prime (with all the problems IT had) will be the capstone for the moment.

 

[The Mighty Mollusk]

I'm starting to move from "Only really interested in the Combaticons anyway" to "Y'know, the Combiner Wars set is still pretty good, really."

I'm dreading what happens when BBTS gets that Titan Omega Supreme reissue in and adds the latest tariff upcharge, though. $200 was already very much pushing it for me.

 

[Rhinox]

Bluntly put, these tariffs and this economy spell the end of toys for collectors. I'm sure small, baby toys will still be available, but these prices are unsustainable and this business model cannot continue. If collectors are priced out, imagine what every parent in the country is going through.

Christmas is about to get a lot less jolly.

 

[lastmaximal]

It's kind of surreal seeing these very real and concerning price spikes for toys and such, moments... after getting home from doing the groceries and for the nth week in a row wondering how I broke a certain amount ceiling having bought so (comparatively) little.

The many sides of our worlds just feel like they're shrinking, and there's no end in sight.

 

[Steevy Maximus]

Its not internet rumor or hypothetical, I've seen this myself. When I got my Vortex from Pulse it was $24.99, $26.74 after taxes. It's now $27.99 on Pulse. I was at Wal-Mart and they'd gone to $29.99. Not huge for it, more in steps, but a definite in-store in-stock increase. Voyagers went from $34.99 for my Sky Byte to $42.99 on Pulse and at Wal-Mart were $44.99. Ten bucks more. I'm in the USA for reference on both stores on which dollar value if that helps, I know it does vary. But both are definitely bumping prices on in-store stuff. Quite a bit in some cases. Order histories are a terrible thing to go back and review when you realize something is off...

Even I was surprised to see Walmart "jump the gun" on the price increases. It would not have surprised me to see a price jump...but I was expecting retailers to wait until AFTER the holidays to do so.

Guess not...

 

[The Mighty Mollusk]

Why would they not start raising prices right before the biggest buying season of the year? Now they can mark down to the previous prices as a sale, then jump it back up afterwards.

 

[Rhinox]

And that's exactly what they're going to do

 

[Wheelimus]

I bought Vortex, I'll track down the rest of the Combaticons. But I'll be spending all of my other Transformers money on old jive. Better value, arguably better toys.

 

[Dekafox]

I reached the point of "Good enough" a while ago, and have only been bothering with characters that haven't gotten a proper update(like Sureshot). Just as well, as art comm prices have also gotten a significant bump the past few years(due to everything else getting bumped).